Michael Suchowski said he likes doing things for his community, and Shop 3430’s owners wanted to beautify their space in McHenry, too.

That came together in late summer as Suchowski and his crew at Invictus Vinyl, including designer John Helman, installed a new mural on the side of the building at 3430 Elm St.

[ See more photos of recently installed murals in McHenry ]

The mural and the work that was put into it were completely donated by Suchowski, Julie Skaggs said. She is the proprietor of The Mad Soyientist Candle Co., which shares space with Lumber & Twine and Hair Flextensions in the storefront on Route 120.

Julie Vahos of Hair Flextensions has chalked the building’s east wall a few times since they opened 18 months ago, but a mural was something they’d all talked about – and their landlord gave the go-ahead.

The landlord was “open to the mural idea. We got very excited about that, and it was something we all wanted to do,” Skaggs said.

In planning for McHenry’s first 815 Day, Skaggs called Dorothy Wolf in the city’s economic development office to see what the city’s guidelines are for murals.

In that conversation, Wolf told her Invictus Vinyl was looking for a spot to donate a vinyl mural. That conversation was the week of July 4, Skaggs said.

Invictus Vinyl - including Suchowski and Helman, “did everything” to get the mural designed, printed and installed, Skaggs said. “This is their contribution to 815 Day.”

This is not the first piece of vinyl the company has donated and installed, Suchowski said. Invictus did the Junior Warrior signage for McHenry High School’s football field, and the window signs for Preserved Peculiarities, Crystal Lum, Artisan Marketplace and The Trend Cellar – all donated.

“I know what it is like to have a small business and not that many funds,” Suchowski said. “It costs us pennies to help somebody out.”

Wolf reached out to connect him with Skaggs, Vahos and third co-owner David Badgley and the landlord to design the latest mural.

“They put their spin on it,” Skaggs said. The design includes water, a tree, cats, swings and a power boat on the Fox River.

It invites a passerby to stop under the umbrella, next to a swing or holding the boat’s ski tow rope to get the right angle on a photo.

It is the third mural to go up in McHenry this year and the fourth since Fall 2022. That is when Dawn Bremer of Bremer Team-Keller Williams Success Realty worked with the owner of 1216 Green Street and Wolf to put a mural on the side of that building.

In June, Rockford-based artist Jenny Mathews began painting the artwork that now can be seen at the McHenry Brewing Company’s outdoor beer garden at 3425 Pearl St.

Also in June, Daniel Florek of Vindictive Vinyl installed a mural at 3411 W. Elm St. That piece, designed to look like a postcard of McHenry, was created by students at McHenry High School.

The murals are not just about putting paint – or in two cases, vinyl – on a wall.

“It is about sparking something bigger in our community,” Bremer said recently.

Her Green Street mural was a joint project with the city and 18 businesses, all of whom donated $1,000 for the artist.

Bremer said that “watching it inspire three more” murals showed that trying something can make it easier for others to follow suit.

“Now, everywhere there is a beautiful mural,” she said. “McHenry is embracing public art and pulling together. ”